


Forgotten Flies - Hollow Knight Alternate Universe (AU)

by QueenWoomy



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Brain Trauma, Child Abandonment, Childhood Trauma, Herrah lives, Manipulation, Memory Loss, Pale King is even worse, Parental Trauma, Queen Vespa lives, Woman empowerment, guilt tripping, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28773951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenWoomy/pseuds/QueenWoomy
Summary: When a simple mistake by an unknowing tribe brings the world to a pause, one Vessel must seal the plaguing light, saving Hollownest from its torment.But what if the Hollow Knight had gone back to save the Knight? What if the Pale King was forced to raise Hornet? What would those in his life have done about it? Would Herrah still become a Dreamer? What if there are moths still out there? What if the Radiance could not control the Infection? This AU explores all those questions, and maybe more than that.The Radiance isn't the only threat to Hollownest.(Most factors in here are based around Mossbag's Hollow Knight theories, though most will be altered due to the nature of the AU. Please send them some love!)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 30





	1. Prologue - You are the Hollow Knight

**Author's Note:**

> Holy shit???? genuinely thank you guys so much for the support of this series! I did not think it would get so much traction is so little time! I wanted to let you all know that I will be trying a different approach to this AU, as every few chapters will have a finished music video to go along with it! This first one will show the events of the prologue and what will happen between then and Chapter 1, though this will start AFTER Chapter One or Chapter Two. A Discord server is also in the works!
> 
> I will also be starting work on another fic that is Undertale AU related. 
> 
> I also ask you guys to check out my other stories as well, especially my original horror story if you are all fine with blood and gore. 
> 
> Again, I can't thank you guys enough for all the support! I'll see you all soon!

The deed was done. His kingdom would be preserved. Finally, the status that rested over Hollownest would return. Having a dalliance with his greatest enemy wasn't his dream, after all. She was the final Dreamer he needed - the queen of Deepnest was Hollownest's only hope. 

"Wyrm," Herrah squinted at him, holding the small bug in her arms. "Will you not even glance towards your daughter?"

  
  
"Do not call me that." The Pale King demanded, but hesitantly obeyed the other ruler's command. 

The shell of the newborn was flat like his, but more pointed at the end. Her horns stuck upwards and curled in slightly like a heart, the edges sharp as a newly forged nail. Her tiny hands shot out towards him, cooing. "Yes, yes, adorable." Pale King rolled his eyes at the child's feeble attempts at reaching him. "Now, my wife is expecting me in her gardens. If you excuse me-"

Herrah squinted. "No, if you will excuse  _ me, _ Wyrm."

"I told you not to call me that."

"This is  _ my _ home. You may rule the land above, but I rule here, and I have every right to slay you here and now if I so wish. I may call you whatever I fancy. Remember you  _ are _ in enemy territory,  **_Wyrm_ ** ."

Pale King's brow tightened at Herrah. "Fine." He grumbled. "Speak your mind."

"You will take this child -  _ our _ child." Herrah commanded. "If I am to become a Dreamer as my side of the bargain demands, my kingdom may be unable to function and care for her properly. I want you to take her under your wing. Teach her how to rule so she can return. It is my final wish." She paused. "But… but do allow her to visit, won't you? I think it would do her some good to… to understand everything."

Pale King noticed Herrah begin to tear up. "Oh, do not create a sob fest, Queen Herrah." He thrust forward, preparing to take this lump of curious shell into his castle. "I suppose I have no other choice."

"You do not." The Pale King grumbled with irritation at her reply, not reacting as the child was placed in his arms. "Her… her name is Hornet." Herrah whispered. "Allow her to visit me before I rest, won't you?"

"Hornet," The Pale King stared at the other ruler with suspicious eyes. "is a Hive name."

  
  
Herrah nodded. "Indeed. Queen Vespa recommended it. The entire kingdom thought it fit her."

Queen Vespa, Queen Herrah, and his very own wife, the White Lady, Queen of Hollownest…

This child would be trouble, he knew it for sure.

  
  
  


The Pale King did not want this child. He had only had her for less than a few years, and she was already ruining everything. She was curious about everything - the Kingsmolds, the Vessels he spoke of, the Wingsmolds, the Infection… he could not have this  _ thing _ in his castle.

He had no place for her elsewhere.

The truth of his plan could not be spread. Not to the kingdom. Not to the White Lady. Not to the Dreamers. Nobody could ever know.

Nobody could ever know.

  
  
  
  


**_No cost too great._ **

"Where are we going, father?"

"Do not ask questions."

"But why?"

"Quiet."

The Ancient Basin was not a place a child should be. The Pale King knew that. Void was rising in the air as they grew closer to the Abyss.

He had to choose a Vessel, anyway. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Hornet stepped closer to the edge of the entrance with interest, a shiver passing through her little body. "Brr… it's cold."

"As it should be."

He stepped closer.

"Why are we here, anyway?"

"I have to do something important."

"What is it?"

"Something you won't understand."

"Why?"

His pale cloak shifted as he moved even closer, trying to be as quiet as possible.

**_No mind to think._ **

"Father? Are you still there?"

"Stay there. Something is coming. Do not move."

**_No will to break._ **

"What? What's coming?"

**_No voice to cry suffering._ **

The Pale King did not answer, stopping just behind the tiny bug. In one swift movement of his leg, Hornet began her long descent into the bottom of the Abyss. 

**_Born of God and Void._ **

He waited for a moment, watching two Vessels battling over the ascent to him. One leaped gently before him, while the other struggled, dangling over the ledge. Ignoring the other, The Pale King knelt simply before the first, his face barely an inch away from it.

**_You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams._ **

The first Vessel hesitated, looking from him to the other Vessel, before rushing back, grasping the puny hand of the second bug, struggling to heave it to the ledge as well. The Pale King squinted with disappointment.

**_You are the Vessel._ **

As he did with Hornet, he stepped forward, pushing both back down to where they started. Another Vessel quickly arrived at the ledge, standing straight and watching the King emotionlessly. With a nod to it, the Vessel followed. This was the one. One horn stuck out from the side of its shell, and two stuck out of the other side. He didn't care what it looked like, honestly. It had to be hollow, and this one showed no emotion.

Behind him, he allowed the Abyss to seal, trapping those who remained inside. They would never escape.

**_You are the Hollow Knight._ **


	2. Chapter 1 - Remember No Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Years later, Hornet and two of her closest siblings, Ghost and Locust, escape the Abyss. The voidless vessel is filled with unfamiliar memories that were once her own, and she desperately prays to uncover her past - and her future. The constant, fizzled nightmares of the past she once lived plague Hornet's mind, unable to escape the words and memories she can't make out.
> 
> She wakes up after one of these said nightmares. Ghost decides to comfort her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I can't thank you guys enough for the support of this AU! I am happy to bestow upon you: Chapter One! A lot of different stuff is in here - I'll reveal what the Darkness is later on (though you can probably guess), though I will say "Locust" is this AU's Hollow Knight/Pure Vessel. The three are also currently in Queen's Gardens - yep! We're going backwards! They started from the Abyss, went through a little bit of Deepnest, through the little smidge of the Fungal Wastes, and into Queen's Gardens!
> 
> I also may create an Ask blog on Tumblr featuring Hornet, Locust, and Ghost, but it depends on what everyone thinks.
> 
> I will also list the pronouns of the main three!
> 
> Hornet: She/her and they/them.
> 
> Ghost: They/them + It/itself. They prefer they/them.
> 
> Locust: Strictly He/him. He doesn't mind they/them but will remind you of his pronouns. It/itself gets him in a little fit. I'd describe it as looking like an angry one month old kitten.
> 
> The Forgotten Flies Discord has also officially been created! It can be found here: https://discord.gg/H9ugrWKgjD

_ ""̶̭̿̃͐͐͠ͅẀ̵̘̌͊̌͋͘ḣ̶̨̜͚͔̺͓̯̅̑̇̉̓̚ā̵͍̣͙̟̣̓͜ͅt̸̹͖̱͗?̶̡̥̪͚̪̙̂̒̀͌̓͆ ̴͈̜̺̥͓͓̲̊͂̑͝͝W̸͚͙͇̗̞͇̱̎̇h̴̨̤̹͙͎̮̕ä̶̼͕̩̂̓̍́̾ṫ̸̤̞̤̩̳̳̋͐̉̐̈́̈́'̶̡͇̲̤̼̮̮͌̅s̶̡͓̫̦͚͌̏ ̶̨̖̼̞͊̽̇c̷̖̑̂̑́o̸̼̲̘͍͓̹͑͌̂̈̓ḿ̵͙͙͈̜̖͖̱̍̏̿̍̾i̴̤͕̋̊͘n̸̫̠̅͋̉̅̀͝g̷̠͖͇̗͐?̷͚̦̝̗͆͒͠"̴̪̏̑̍̊̇ _

_ ""̴̹͍̼̼͎͈̟̔̊̽̔͑̐̊͌.̷̥̣̰̖̞̰̿͑͜ͅ.̸̛̞͓͓̘͙̎̎̊̃͆̑͒̽̽̽̋̏̔͝ͅ.̵̧̙͍̲̥̳̬̰͔͈̹̉̏̉͊̑̕F̸̢̛͚̱̯͚͈̠̰͖̫͖̺̝̱̓͐̐̿͑̚͘̚ͅa̶̭̻̓̌̅́͆̂̒̉̽͊̽͆̾̄͘t̸̡͈̝̠̫̻͑̈́̈́͒̍̓͜͠h̸͕̱̼͔̞̽͒̊͝ê̷͍̭͉̭̜̙̟̭̱͓̟͗̔̑͂̔̈́̋̂̿̕r̷͕͝͝͝?̴̧̫͓̮̱͆̈́̆́̉͒͛͒̉́͘͝"̶̻̇̒͝" _

**_C̶̥͎͖̺̐̎̈́ ̸̬͚̇̒͐̔̈́͘R̵̭͉̞̟̗̓̎͛̆̈́͠ͅ ̸̗̹̯͈̦͍͎̞͌͂͆̇̊͊̄͠Â̵̮̝͉̲̮̹ ̴͍͑̈́̈C̴̨͖̊̎̍̽̈͠͝ ̴̡͓͉̣̗̲͕͗̂̈̾̿̊̑K̵̛̟̤̝̤̹̝͍̒͗͗͌̾̃̚ ̶̜̺̗̳̉̋!̵̬̠͕̘̖̹͓̐_ **

Hornet panicked, leaping awake from the grassy area she'd been resting in. A sharp gasp escaped her as the ringing in her shell faded out. After calming herself slightly, she gazed over to the two sleeping forms beside her.

The young bug hadn't remembered much of her past. Just the Darkness. Just the harsh, cold void. Just the assuring embraces of her thousands upon thousands of siblings.

The memories of the Darkness were tightly woven in her mind, but nothing before.

But now, the icy hold of the Darkness had finally let her go. 

She was free, but she wasn't alone. She never wanted to be alone. She never knew what alone was like, after all. It was probably colder than the Darkness itself, but what was colder than the Darkness? Was there a Double Darkness hidden somewhere? Hornet shivered physically at the thought. No, nothing was colder than the Darkness.

Hearing shifting beside her, Hornet gazed at the larger of the three, who was sitting up and staring at her with the usual dark, void-filled eyes. Others would call her siblings hollow, but Hornet could see they packed as much emotion inside them as she herself could.

Ghost stared at her before a soft click escaped their shell.  _ 'Alright?' _

"I'm alright, Little Ghost. Don't worry."   
  
Heh. Little Ghost was an older nickname. Ghost should start calling her "Little Hornet".

Ghost tilted their shell at her, their eyes shifting in concern.  _ 'Bad sound? Scared? Made scared noise.' _ They would have frowned if they could.  _ 'Sister shivering. Cold?' _

They gave a soft whir of amusement as they witnessed Hornet panic a little, wrapping her stubby arms around herself. "I am not shivering!" She insisted with a huff.

Ghost gave a long, uneven whistle, as if they were laughing.  _ 'Sister shivering like shaky tiktik.' _

The female bug huffed at her sibling, shaking herself out before mostly stopping with the quivers. "I'm fine now, see? I was just jumpy is all."

  
  
_ 'Sister jumpy like jumpy tiktik!' _ Ghost whistled again, almost cutting themself off from their laughter.

"Shush, you."

The taller bug churred a bit more before quieting down.

_ 'But sister alright?' _ They asked again, looking at Hornet with concern again as their large hand moved to her shoulder.

Hornet shifted her hand to Ghost's, patting it reassuringly. "I'm alright, Ghost," she insisted. "It was just one of those dreams I always get. The words are always jumbled and I can never make them out."

_ 'Spook?' _

"Yeah, they spook me a little bit," Hornet gave her sibling a sad look. "Sorry for waking you up. You can go back to sleep."

Ghost nodded, but churred again after adding,  _ '-before brother gets angry?' _

Hornet chuckled softly. "We surely don't want to wake Locust up. He'll make us get moving before the other bugs wake up." Ghost nodded in agreement. The smaller bug settled back down in the grass, about to doze back off when she felt a large shape lay behind her. Hornet lifted her shell, the large crack covering it glistening in the soft light. "Ghost-?"

_ 'No more spook.' _ They assured, bringing a finger up to wipe the cracks covering their sister's face.  _ 'Leaky.' _

"It's leaking void again?"

Ghost nodded.

"It hasn't done that in a while."

Ghost nodded again. They soon stopped with the gentle swipes of their finger to wrap their large arms around Hornet, their large shell resting on hers.

_ 'Sleepy,' _ Ghost whirred softly.

"Then go to sleep," Hornet whispered.

_ 'But spook-' _

"I won't have any more nightmares, Ghost. I'm alright."

_ 'Promise?' _

"I promise."

_ 'Pinky?' _

"Go to sleep."

_ 'Okay.' _


End file.
